Clevercell Very disappointing...

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

BakuryuuTyranno The monster costume interested me in the film, but said movie's content was dull. The 13th Child is another one of those movies about characters investigate a mystery the audience already knows the outcome of.It takes place in the small community near Pine Barrens which doesn't feel like a community at all. At one point we see inside a hospital, but essentially the movie could be taking place in the middle of nowhere. Occasionally, citizens who have little relevance to the plot appear and only rarely will these scenes have any payoff.Essentially, we're following three cops who investigate a murder and some creepy man living in a huge mansion. This keeps getting interrupted by "present day" scenes of an older cop detained in a mental facility. Again,since we already know the result of the mystery, this holds no suspense.

Bozo Being one who was born and raised in South Jersey and near the Pine Barrens, I just had to see this movie. I read all the negative comments and ratings and braced myself for the worst. However, I was not all that disappointed.OK, so I gave this movie a HUGE benefit of the doubt, being a huge fan of South Jersey folklore and of the Jersey Devil, and also a fan of horror movies. But I still did enjoy it for the most part. It was good and bad.The Good: Cliff Robertson gave a great performance as Mr. Shroud, the mysterious Native American descendant. Christopher Atkins was also good as Ron, the park ranger and Gano Grills was good as Mitch, his partner. Robert Guillaume was excellent as Riley, the former cop.Aside from the acting, the basic story was great. And what made it better was that it was really filmed in New Jersey, particularly in Batsto village/park. But they did a good job of making it into Shroudsberg Manor. Also, I personally laughed at the Piney Hunter. I thought he was the funniest person.Although they changed the Jersey Devil legend, they did a good job in keeping with South Jersey history. They put the Lenni Lenape as the Natives there, which is true.The Bad: Michelle Maryk was downright awful as Kathryn, the D.A. assistant sent to investigate. Leslie-Anne Down was good but...why such high billing? She was only in the movie for a minute or 2. Seems like the good actors were given the small roles. Michelle Maryk got WAY too much screen time, I see why they gave her such a low billing, I wouldn't advertise her myself.The effects were not so great, and the camera-work was a bit shaky at times. The editing was awful, and the text on screen was badly put together. The time changes were confusing, but I actually sort of did get them. And they changed the legend, but I understand why.Over all: Not a movie for everyone. Mainly one for South Jersey locals.If you go to watch: Put it in your mind that this will be pretty bad and that the legend was changed, it will be easier to sit through then.6/10.

tenebraed After the unexpected success of the Blair Witch project, many young and aspiring (albeit untalented) directors grabbed their camcorders and began filming whatever they could, in order to capitalize on the country's newfound respect for amateur film. While most thankfully fizzled out, a few made it to the big screen. The 13th Child, based on the popular myth of the Jersey Devil, was going to be a major hit and launch it's creators into stardom...but it didn't. While I have the utmost respect for anyone who has the drive to make their visions a reality, this is an abomination.First of all, while called "The 13th Child", it completely ignores the story of Mother Leeds and the mysterious visitor who may have fathered her unholy offspring; instead, the jersey devil is now an Indian who shape-shifted into the creature by accident. The main story, if I can remember correctly, involved an investigation into several mysterious deaths that led to a strange old coot living in the woods, who may hold some answers. I don't know that for certain, because my subconscious has tried to block most of it out. What I can recall is that the effects are terrible, the acting sucks, and there's no real story at all. The title, come to think of it, does work on one level-it must have cost thirteen bucks to make, with thirteen people, in thirteen days, and with thirteen pages of pointless script. I want my money back. This flick gets an F.

rixrex You can't go wrong when you buy a tape or DVD for 1 or 2 dollars. If you don't like it, just sell it and pass it along, and you're not out much at all if anything, but this one is one that I'll keep. A nice and eerie telling of the Jersey Devil folklore without being grossly gory. Some here say that it's not being honest to the folklore, but then again it's FOLKLORE. Overall, I would not give it a 9 or 10, I'd say that it's more deserving of a 5 or 6, but there are three things that made me jack up the rating. One, a super performance by Cliff Robertson that is spooky enough but not hammy, tough for good dramatic actors to do with horror material. Two, very cool way that the creature manages to get in and out of locked places, worthy of comparison to the best X-files. Three, the idiots who gave it an undeserved zero or one, that's worth a couple extra points right there. (same ones who give this comment the NO vote) These are the type who are sour on anything that isn't a gorefest of unredeeming violence. You know the type, they think the remake of TCM is better than the original, and they think Hitchcock's Psycho was boring between the killings and should have been in color. Oh, wait a minute, yeah, that was done already!